Racquets are used in sports such as tennis, squash, badminton, and racquetball. The racquets are produced and sold by the racquet manufacturer to the consumer. Generally, for a given model of racquet, the racquet frame will come in a particular color scheme with a set of graphics designed by the manufacture. The racquet frames are typically painted and the graphics are often a set of decals applied to different portions of the frame. The decals are usually very thin and only as large as the graphic requires. These graphics or decals are permanent features of the racquet in that they cannot be removed without significant effort such as sanding or stripping the graphics off of the frame of the racquet. The consumer typically has no control over the looks of the racquet frame from the manufacturer including the color of the racquet and the looks and location of the graphics. If the consumer wanted the racquet frame in a different color or with different graphics, the consumer would typically have to sand, strip or cover the current color and graphics of the racquet frame and repaint the racquet frame with the desired colors and graphics. This process can be expensive and time consuming.
During routine play, the racquet frame of the racquets experience a certain amount of wear and tear, including scratches, scrapes, and chips and other damage. This type of cosmetic damage may occur when a racquet hits or scrapes the court, floor, or walls during play. To reduce cosmetic damage to the frame, many racquets include a bumper guard at the end of the head of the racquet. The bumper guard is typically a relatively bulky plastic piece that only covers a relatively small portion of the frame at the end of the head of the racquet. The bumper guard only provides protection for the portion of the frame at the end of the head of the racquet covered by the bumper guard. Chips, scrapes, scratches, and cracks can occur at all portions of the racquet frame and not just at the end of the head of the racquet. It is not practical to extend the bumper guard over most of the racquet frame as this will add considerable weight to the racquet and significantly change the performance features such as the balance point and aerodynamic features of the frame. The paint and decals from the manufacturer provides very little protection for the frame from cosmetic damage. Thus, over time, racquet frames show significant wear and tear such as chips, scratches, and/or cracks in the paint of the racquet as well as damage to the graphics or decals. For most consumers, this cosmetic damage is not repaired and the racquet frame will continue to show the damage for the life of the racquet. If the consumer wanted to repair the damage to the racquet frame, the damaged racquet frame would have to be repainted or touched up including replacing graphics if necessary. Since this in not typically done, the looks of the racquet will continue to deteriorate with continued use of the racquet.